The upcoming issue of Game Informer reveals the first details on Cryptic Studios' next project, a brand new superhero MMO titled Champions Online.
The game lacks a release date, but it is revealed that it will be available on PCs and unnamed consoles and will offer players a chance to play as heroes as well as villains.
Champions Online will end up facing off against Cryptic's prodigal son City of Heroes, now under NCsoft's watch at an in-house studio formed by former Cryptic employees.
Rumours persist that City of Heroes is being adapted to consoles as part of NCsoft's deal to produce PlayStation Network games for Sony.
A forum post by dev team member Steve Long over on the HERO Games official forums has given us pretty convincing evidence that the recently revealed Cryptic MMO Champions Online, is in fact based on the Champions table-top roleplaying game first launched back in 1981.
I enjoy comics but no interest in playing superheros
The meat of the announcement is that Cryptic is indeed going to be coming out with a Champions MMORPG called Champions Online, probably due out in 2009, though that is a WAG on my part. In an interesting twist, rather than Cryptic licensing the Champions Universe from DoJ, they are buying the Champions and Dark Champions IP (except Harbinger of Justice ), and as part of the deal are licensing the rights to print RPG books for those IP back to DoJ in perpetuity (and DoJ doesn't have to pay for it).
DoJ and Cryptic will be working closely together to help insure that any changes to the CU for Champions Online get reflected in the CU books that DoJ will be publishing. Both content-wise and appearance-wise.
Important Note: Cryptic is NOT buying the Hero System IP, just the Champions and Dark Champions IP.
Another Important Note: Champions Online will not be a Hero System MMORPG. My understanding is that Hero is planning on releasing a guide to allow players of Champions Online to recreate their characters in the Hero System at some point after CO comes out, but that it will NOT be using the Hero System itself.
Cryptic has also licensed the Hero System from DoJ so that they can use HERO terminology to describe things. Cryptic has also said that their plan is that CO will have an unprecidented level of customizability in character creation. There is the chance that if Cryptic and DoJ agree that the level of customizability is up to the standards of the HERO System the game may also get hung with the title of HERO Online. Though DoJ retains the right to say "no" on that.
One of the design features that Darren mentioned that Cryptic is looking at implementing that would allow you during character creation to create your own nemesis.
There is also every chance that there will be DoJ produced books that have bits and peices that will be useful for the CO players. Behind the scenes type things.
The launch date, while a tiny bit further than expected, is probably for the better since Jumgpate Evolution is releasing in the middle of June anyhow.
If both of these games hit in the same month, we'd probably lose our minds.
I know everyone has questions about microtransactions – what are they, how much are they, etc. I’m sorry we didn’t post something earlier; we’re really heads down in development right now. We’re going to release a WHOLE lot of information in the very near future about not just about microtransactions, but pricing in general. That said, here’s some basic principles about microtransactions to at least answer some of your concerns:
1) Microtransactions enable us to have a larger development team
2) Microtransactions are mostly aesthetic (costume pieces, pets, etc.)
3) If a microtransaction does have any sort of in game effect, then it can be also be earned in game.
I promise we'll read this thread, note any questions, and answer them more in depth soon. Heck, I'll try to answer the easy ones today/tomorrow/this week.
Champions Online too often feels like a professionally assembled Second Life module,
where character creation is king and the thrill of being superhuman wears thin once you realize that everything else just feels off.
Whether or not future patches can set some of the more glaring flaws right is anybody's guess.
